Prospective Members

The Certified Member affiliation is a best practices and quality improvement program offered to community hospitals in the United States. The program is based on the premise that, with the support of our affiliation, the great majority of cancer patients can and should be treated within their own community setting. The program offers community hospitals and their associated oncology physician staff access to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center clinical intellectual property for the purpose of examining and improving the quality of cancer care provided by them. Qualified Certified Member affiliate hospitals are JCAHO and ACOS accredited and have an organized cancer program including medical, radiation, and surgical oncology as well as appropriate diagnostic capabilities.

The Certified Member affiliation process is one of adopting MD Anderson best practices for cancer care and the utilization of a robust data driven quality improvement process. Additionally, it includes in-depth clinical due diligence in analyzing an affiliate’s cancer capabilities and practices, the credentialing of qualified oncology physicians into the MD Anderson Physicians Network®, and an agreement by both physicians and hospital to utilize the MD Anderson evidence-based clinical care guidelines for cancer care.

The initial affiliation is for a term of three years and during the first year a comprehensive study (Concordance and Quality Indicators Assessment Study) is performed to determine the degree to which the practice of oncology in the hospital and clinics adheres to guidelines and other quality indicators and best practice benchmarks in the four major cancer disease sites. The results are provided to the Certified Member's Cancer Committee which has the responsibility for developing and monitoring the cancer quality improvement program. A minimum of three in-depth studies are performed during the term of the affiliation and the Certified Member's Cancer Committee reports the activities and accomplishments of their quality initiatives to the MD Anderson Physicians Network® Quality Management Committee on an annual basis.

Additionally, to assist in this process, an MD Anderson faculty physician is assigned as an advocate to work with the Certified Member's Cancer Committee and he/she along with the appropriate Physician Network staff will visit the Certified Member Program on an annual basis. Certified Member credentialed oncology physicians are also offered bi-monthly multidisciplinary teleconferences with MD Anderson faculty to review cases and to demonstrate and encourage the use of multidisciplinary treatment planning. If desired, direct discussion between Certified Member physicians and MD Anderson faculty members relating to specific patient issues can be facilitated by the Certified Member advocate physician. In addition, professionals in a variety of fields can visit MD Anderson for specifically arranged educational programs lasting from one to several days. Visits to the Certified Member site by MD Anderson faculty for addressing specific topics can be arranged as requested.

Certified Members are allowed selective use of the MD Anderson Physicians Network® Mark for marketing the affiliation.